Too Late
by Alusy
Summary: Lee gets a phone call, telling him how Sakura is dying. He reflects if she is worth it. Does he make it in time before she dies? What happens after that? Rated T for character death, and to be safe. OneShot only. Summary sucks. R&R!


Okay, I've finally decided to write a Lee X Sakura fanfiction, and upload it. I was really bored one night at 9:30, and I really wanted to contribute to the Lee and Sakura pairing. I support this pairing, as you may know, and I've only uploaded Tenten X Neji stories.

This story is dedicated to my friend, Tatyana. She gave me the idea that the girl gets a sudden illness, and the boy rushes to the hospital to say he loves her, but doesn't make it. At first, I couldn't think of a way for that to happen. I mean, Lee is extremely fast, right? So I had to add a tiny bit of drama or whatever you want to call my sad attempt. Well I really hope you like it! TT

Disclaimer: Once again, I must be reminded that I do not own Naruto! So I repeat, I do not own Naruto.

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Lee dropped his phone. The sharp sound of the phone contacting the ground swiftly cut through the silence in his house. He could hear his teammate calling his voice repeatedly, desperately, over the phone, but Lee gave no response. His world was crumbling under him, the ground breaking open, ready to carry him into the endless pit of sorrow.

**FLASHBACK (the phone call)**

Lee cheerfully answered the phone that had been ringing about three times. "Hello? Rock Lee speaking," he chirped.

"Ummmm, hey Lee," an uncertain voice greeted. Lee could tell the person was forcing a happy tone.

"Tenten? Is there something wrong?"

"Well...ummm," she stuttered, not able to grasp onto the right words to say.

Lee now began to worry. Tenten, his only female teammate, never stuttered. "Tenten, please tell me what is wrong." Lee waited for her response, but there was only silence. "Tenten," he said again sternly, "I need you to answer me!"

He heard her clear her throat, as if readying herself for something dramatic. Something tragic. Something that could change her life forever, or more importantly...Lee's. "Lee," her voice began to waver noticeably, "it's Sakura." Lee could hear soft wimpering from the other line. "Sakura...Sakura's dying. She's at the hospital right now. The Fifth is trying to save her, she's saying nothing is working. This might be...this might be the end of her life. She was trying to heal a Konoha ninja on a mission, but someone attacked her from behind and..."

Everything Tenten said after that was unheard, for Lee's mind had blanked.

**END OF FLASHBACK **

Lee didn't know what to do. He tried to move his legs, trying to get to the hospital, but his legs would not move. He grabbed onto a desk, afraid that his legs would give out at any time because of the emotional stress. _Sakura. _Her name raced through his mind. The numbness in his legs began to go away, and he was able to move them now. Then he paused. Did he really want to race there to see her once more? After every time she denied him. Everytime he would innocently asked her out for lunch at Ichiraku, when he offered to pay, when he gave her the most expensive rose he could find at the Yamanaka Flower Shop. All attempts ended in despair. All attemps were in vain.

He abruptly slammed his fist onto his desk, disgusted at himself. _How could I question a situation like this?_ he asked himself. _Sakura is in danger, and I can only think of the times she wronged me._ Were those the only memories he had of her? No. He had many more memories of her, whether it was when he protected her, when they had friendly chats when the Konoha 12 got together, or when Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei decided to train their squads together.

He dashed out the door, leaving everything as it was.

Lee ran as quickly as he could, but he still felt he was going too slowly. He paused for a split second and threw his leg weights off so he could run even faster. A trail of smoke was left behind him as his feet rapidly touched the dusty, dirt covered ground and pushed off. His heart beat accelerated as his brain expeditiously displayed millions of images of Sakura in his mind.

Everyone knew Rock Lee had declared his love for Sakura Haruno infinite times, and everyone knew she turned him down each time. Lee knew Sakura was slowly getting annoyed at his constant requests for at least one date, but nonetheless, he continued to beg, and nonetheless, she continued to put him down kindly, trying not to hurt his feelings. She just wanted to be friends, and he knew it. But if Rock Lee decided not to visit Sakura before her death, all of those proclamations of love would have meant nothing. They would have been empty words, spoken by a boy blinded by illusions of a dream that could never come true, and someone he could never have. He needed to tell her once more. He needed to be there before she died, and he needed to tell her once more. Those three words needed to be spoken. They needed to be heard by her ears. Not just anybody's ears, but her ears.

He threw the hospital doors open, his heart racing like there was no tomorrow. Rain dripped from his soaked hair and outfit, but he didn't care. He couldn't tell if he had been crying, or if it was just the rain drops from the heavens falling on his paled skin. "Sakura Haruno," he said suddenly, directing his words at the nurse at the front desk. "What room is she in?"

The nurse did not look through the papers. She did not look at her event log. "I'm sorry," she replied quietly. She stared at him, solace reflecting off of her cold, grey eyes. "Tsunade has just updated me on the surgery. Sakura Haruno is dead."

"What did you say?" he squeaked. The feeling of anguish flooded his heart, deliria completely taking over his senses. "You're lying! Don't lie to me!" he screamed, his voice now sounding high-pitched and hysterical. "Don't you dare lie to me about something like this!"

"I'm sorry sir," the nurse said condolingly, "but I'm not lying. The Fifth did what she could, but in the end, there was nothing she could do."

The nurse continued to say soothing phrases about how everything was going to be okay, but Lee knew better. Not wanting to hear the painful words stinging his ears, the rushed out of the hospital and began to run to the place he felt most comfortable: the Team Gai training grounds. He slowed his pace as he reached his destination, dragging his body before plopping onto a hill. His eyes rolled back, almost disappearing from sight, as he tried to convince him that this was all just a nightmare. He clutched his head as the world around him began spinning endlessly.

The rain pounded on his back like bullets, but Lee didn't feel the pain. He was about ready to kill himself for being so stupid. If he hadn't spent so much time trying to digest the information Tenten had given him...if he hadn't spent so much time thinking if Sakura was really worth it...if he was just faster, then maybe, just maybe, he would have made it in time.

Although it was raining, Lee could now tell he was crying. His loud cries were carried away by the wind, which roughly blew in his ears. He felt like he was a magnet, attracting the despair and sorrow from others. He began to pound the ground with all his might, which was being drained with every passing second.

He should have told her not to go on that mission. Sakura was a medical ninja, and a very good one at that. Why was she tenacious when it came to proving her strength? Why wasn't she paying attention to a blind attack from behind? Who was she healing that was so important?

Lee's eyes shifted to they were now staring at the kunai in his hand. He tilted it slightly so when rain hit the metal, it would reflect off and give a little light. "You look...so friendly," he breathed, continuing to tilt the kunai in all directions, admiring what he could do with it. "Nobody would really care," he reasoned, "except for Gai-sensei and Tenten. Neji never really liked me that much, except for the few times did acted as though he did. Naruto has many more rivals to fight...like Gaara, or Sasuke. What am I? Just another spandex wearing, bushy browed, fish eyed freak running around Konoha?" He brought his hand up, ready to stab his wrist, and pull the kunai along his arm. He eyes lusted to see his own blood. He swiftly brought his hand down, only for it to be suddenly be caught by a strong hand. Lee only smirked. Perhaps it was Tenten. She was worried about him after the phone call. Or perhaps it was Neji. Neji always knew where someone would be, and Lee had seen Neji training by himself at the training ground a few times.

"You may be another spandex wearing, bushy browed freak, but Gai-sensei does not have fish eyes," the figure spoke. The voice was familiar, but Lee could not place his finger on it. It obviously wasn't Tenten, because the voice was masculine. It wasn't Neji, because if Neji found him like this, he would say something like, 'Will this solve anything?', or some cheesy garbage like that. "She was healing me."

Lee glanced up, only to have to glance down again because the figure sat beside him. "Sasuke?" _But of course she was healing Sasuke,_ he thought, _Sakura loves Sasuke. She would die for him. That is why she could not save herself..._

The boy's hair blew gently in the wind. "I was there when she died," he answered. Lee felt a small crack in his heart, yet he wanted Sasuke to continue. "I thought if I was there, it would cheer her up a little, since she's liked me for a while now. It turns out it wasn't me she wanted to see. Sure, we talked a little, and yeah, Naruto was there too, but she was asking for you."

"This had better not be a lie!" Lee exclaimed furiously, hoping it was actually true.

"I'm not lying," Sasuke said slowly. "She really wanted to see you. She was like a broken record, replaying your name over again. She said she..."

Lee's eyes widened with shock. He wanted to hear the next words, but then he didn't. If Sasuke was about to say what Lee thought, then Sakura's death would only be---"loves you,"---harder.

Lee began to rock back and forth, hugging his knees close to his chest. "Take it in, Lee," he whispered to himself, "take the in..."

Sasuke stared at Lee. He was taking Sakura's death harder than anybody else...even Naruto, who was not able to eat any ramen due to the tragedy. He placed a comforting hand on Lee's shoulder. "You know, Lee, I've always been jealous of your taijutsu skills." Lee looked up from the ground at this comment. Sasuke had reached Lee's level in taijutsu, and maybe even succeeded. "But now you've got something I never realized I wanted. Sakura's love."

That night, Lee fell asleep on his bed, after staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. He had a dream that night. He sat on a bench, beside the love of his life. Cherryblossoms surrounded them, dancing around to the beating of the two hearts. "Sakura...I...I know you're probably annoyed by this, but... I'm just asking one more time! Please, just one time! Accompany me to lunch!"

Sakura's soft pink hair fluttered in the light breeze. She smiled. Not a smile full of pity, saying, 'if I say yes, will you leave me alone?'. It was a smile, saying, "I truly say yes, from the bottom of my heart.' "Yes Lee, I accept. Thank you...for not giving up on me, when I wasn't able to realize what was right before me. I was too busy hoping for Sasuke, but why was I, when I could have something twice as good?" She took his hand and smiled. "I just wanted to say---"

Lee awoke with a start. Even in his dreams, he wasn't able to hear her say those three words. "I guess I was never meant to hear it," he said, "but feeling it is much more important." He closed his eyes and lay back down, relaxing every muscle in his body. "I love you too, my dear Sakura."

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I just realized that half of my uploaded stories include character death, the majority of the events are tragic, and I always have to include at least two characters from Team Gai. XP

Well, the small Sasuke X Sakura fan in me had to add the part when Sasuke says he's always wanted Sakura's love. Thanks for reading! I beg of you to review, anonymous or not! Flames or not! I really hoped you enjoyed this.


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